Illinois Tool Works price target raised to $170 from $162 at Wells Fargo

Wells Fargo analyst Andy Casey raised his price target for Illinois Tool Works to $170 from $162 on valuation. The analyst reiterates an Outperform rating on the shares.

10/24/17

RBCM

10/24/17NO CHANGETarget $155RBCMSector Perform

Illinois Tool Works price target raised to $155 from $143 at RBC Capital

RBC Capital analyst Seth Weber raised his price target on Illinois Tool Works to $155 following the company's Q3 earnings call that forecast continued organic revenue growth and margin expansion in FY18. Weber says the company continues to benefit from a fairly stable end market demand and ongoing enterprise initiatives, maintaining a Sector Perform rating on valuation.

10/24/17

ARGS

10/24/17NO CHANGETarget $180ARGSBuy

Illinois Tool Works price target raised to $180 from $160 at Argus

Argus analyst John Eade raised his price target on Illinois Tool Works to $180 and maintained his Buy rating following Q3 results and an upgrade in guidance. Eade says the company is on track to deliver low single-digit sales growth over the long term. Along with its margin expansion and buybacks, the analyst writes in his research note, Illinois Tool Works can also grow EPS by low double digits, with earnings getting an added boost from a rebound in U.S. and global GDP growth.

11/29/17

JEFF

11/29/17NO CHANGETarget $190JEFFBuy

Illinois Tool Works price target raised to $190 from $180 at Jefferies

Jefferies analyst Stephen Volkmann raised his price target for Illinois Tool Works to $190 and maintains a Buy rating on the shares. The analyst views Illinois Tool as a "high-quality, defensive industrial company" and thinks consensus estimates for 2018 are reasonable. He expects the near-term focus for investors to remain on further margin improvement.

Snap Inc. (SNAP) is banning ads of initial coin offerings in its Snapchat app, Cheddar reports, citing a company spokesperson. The decision makes Snapchat the latest social media platform to prohibit advertisements for cryptocurrency ICOs, the report says. In contrast to Facebook (FB) and Google (GOOG), however, Snap's current block of ICOs has been in effect since early February and does not apply to different kinds of cryptocurrency ads, the report says. Reference Link

Airbus (EADSY) is mulling making a freighter version of its slow-selling A330neo widebody, spurred by requests from potential customers Amazon (AMZN) and UPS (UPS), Bloomberg reports, citing people familiar with the matter. The interest from Amazon and UPS could incite a competition between Airbus and rival Boeing (BA) as the worldwide air-cargo market rebounds from a slump, the report notes.

Facebook's chief information security officer, Alex Stamos, will leave the company after internal disagreements over how the social network should deal with its role in spreading disinformation, The New York Times reports, citing current and former employees briefed on the matter. Reference Link

Amazon has considered the possibility of expanding its retail footprint by acquiring some stores from bankrupt Toys 'R' Us, Bloomberg reports, citing people with knowledge of the situation. The e-commerce giant is not interested in maintaining the Toys 'R' Us brand, but has mulled using the soon-to-be-vacant stores for its own purposes, the report says. Reference Link

President Trump is readying to place a package of $60B in annual tariffs against China, following through on a long-time threat that he claims will punish China for IP infringement and create more jobs in the U.S., the Washington Post reports. The tariff package, which the president intends to unveil by the end of the week, was confirmed by four senior administration officials, the report notes. Senior aides has presented Trump with a $30B tariff package that would apply to a variety of products, but the president directed them to approximately double the amount of new trade levies, the report says. The package could be applied to over 100 products, which the president contends were made by using trade secrets that the Chinese stole from U.S. companies or forced them to hand over in exchange for market aces, the report says. Reference Link